Clean Slate Clubhttps://cleanslateclub.me
because everyone deserves a do-over
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1 http://wordpress.com/https://s0.wp.com/i/buttonw-com.pngClean Slate Clubhttps://cleanslateclub.me
Counting my blessings… not my candles!https://cleanslateclub.me/2015/02/17/counting-my-blessings-not-my-candles/
https://cleanslateclub.me/2015/02/17/counting-my-blessings-not-my-candles/#commentsTue, 17 Feb 2015 17:45:49 +0000http://cleanslateclub.me/?p=33Continue reading Counting my blessings… not my candles!]]>Today is my 50th birthday. Now for those of you (especially some of my coworkers who thought I was in my 30s (bless you), this age of mine will come as a shock! Yes, it’s true. I am officially 50 today. The BIG Five-oh! Wow! How did I get here?

I’ve not been looking forward to this birthday really, and I have been telling myself, it’s just a number, it’s just a number. And indeed, it is justa number, but it’s a pretty significant number. For me, it’s more than a milestone – it’s a victory lap. I’m here. I’ve made it this far. And, God willing, I’ll live to be a nice, ripe old age. I owe that to three important people in my life that weren’t as lucky — my Dad, my Mom, and my Brother — who each died in their early 50s. I’m carrying the torch forward for them!

Oh Whoa Is Me, aka Pity Party

When I woke up this morning, I will admit that I started off having myself a little pity party. It’s icy here in Nashville, Tennessee where I live. We just had an ice storm yesterday and the roads in the area are treacherous, to say the least. I had a wonderful day planned for myself which included a spa day and a nice dinner at one of my favorite restaurants. That’s all now canceled. I’m at home – iced in – with my fur children, Panda (the dog) and Max (the cat). I’m also moving in 8 days, so my kitchen is packed, including my pantry, so I’m having frozen pizza as my birthday dinner tonight. And I’m not going to see another soul in person. I’m bummed to the max (as we said in the 80s)!

But then I saw that the sun is shining brightly and the ice in the trees is glistening. It’s so beautiful and mesmerizing to watch, really. Friends and family members are calling, sending text messages, and posting on my Facebook wall with well wishes. I am not forgotten. And although I’m by myself at home, I know ‘m not alone in this world. I realize life is good -even iced-in on my birthday, and I am beyond blessed! For starters …

I have my health…

I have my mind (although some could argue that point at times)…

I am loved…

I am warm, safe, and dry…

I am employed…

I am simply BLESSED!

So on this, the first day of my 51st year, I have a challenge for you, no matter your age:

Remember that those candles on your cake are not something to be dreaded. They are indeed something to celebrate! You’re here! You made it another year! You enjoyed more of what this precious life has to offer! You are blessed and you are loved.

What more could you or I possibly need or want? Happy Birthday, Donna. Yes! Happy Blessings Day to me!

Stuff. It’s a word that can relate to a lot of things, and we all can relate to. For example, the stuff that’s going on in your life, the stuff you have to do, the stuff in your head that’s blocking your sinuses, or even the stuff you have in your fridge to make something for dinner. These are not all-inclusive examples by any means. We’ve all got our stuff and it comes in all different forms because that’s what stuff is, right?

I’d like to talk about a particular kind of stuff for this post. The stuff in my house. I have a lot of it. Too much. Way too much. I’ve been purging my house over the last two weeks; a house I’ve lived in for just over 22 years. I have so much stuff that I can’t deal with it. It’s overwhelming me. One day, among all the stuff I became so overwhelmed that I sat down on the floor, slithered down is more like it, and started to cry. How did I get in this mess? How could I let this stuff accumulate?

Where Did All This Stuff Come From?

I’ve never thought of myself as a hoarder. I like to think of myself as more of a pack rat. I come from a long line of pack rats on both sides of my family. We like to keep everything – just in case. I have a bad case of the “just in cases.”

During this household purge, I found childhood books that I was saving for my future child that never arrived. I found clothing belonging to my mother and brother who have both moved on to Heaven. I found pictures of relatives from the 1800’s that I don’t know (obviously) and from the early 1900’s, too. I have furniture and nick-nacks that my mom left me. Parting with those things from my mom, even though they are not my current taste, would be painful and would also feel a little bit sinful, too. My mother bequeathed these things to me. I should keep them for the rest of my life, right?

And then let’s talk about the stuff I have accumulated on my own. For those that know me well, it’s no secret that I love to shop. I’ve even been a personal shopper on occasion for friends and coworkers. I’m good at it. I can find almost anything you are looking for. Just put me to the task! Apparently, I’m too good at it because my basement and closets are filled to the brim with stuff that at some point I thought I couldn’t live without.

There are books (a favorite thing of mine to purchase), baskets, photo frames, crystal, blankets, sheets, floral arrangements, kitchen appliances, practically the entire line of Pampered Chef products (I sold it at one time and love the stuff, but clearly have too much!), Christmas decorations for three houses at least, and more! Oh, and CLOTHES! I have enough clothes to stock a small store. I took 50 pairs of shoes to Goodwill for goodness sake! Fifty! Apparently, I like to look good, because that’s where my biggest investment of time, energy, and money have been. Again, all this has been just a bit overwhelming.

There is light in the closet!

Yes! There is light in the closet! Through this whole experience, I am starting to feel a bit lighter, a bit more free! I realize that I don’t need a bunch of stuff in my house and in my life to make me feel better or feel good about myself. All that stuff is extraneous. It’s just stuff. I can’t take it with me when I leave this earth, and I can certainly stand to live with a bit less of it in the here and now.

I now want to focus on simplicity. For me, that means buying what I need and not what I think I want at any given moment. I’m looking forward to this new experience awaiting me. I’m going to do my best to get rid of this extra stuff and stick with it. After all, it’s just stuff. It’s not me and it doesn’t define who I am. I am Donna. I am not my stuff.

Maybe you can relate. Maybe you have stuff in your home, like me, that you really don’t need. Maybe the stuff in your life is different. The point is, we all have stuff. And no matter the form your stuff takes, just be careful not to stuff your stuff down. What I mean is don’t ignore it. Eventually, you will choke on your stuff if you do. Take charge, break free! I promise you the feeling is amazing! Until next time…

Note: The photos in this post are stock photos and not actual photos of my stuff.

]]>https://cleanslateclub.me/2015/01/15/lets-talk-about-stuff/feed/1primadonnatnstuffbookssimplifySuit of Armorhttps://cleanslateclub.me/2015/01/08/suit-of-armor/
https://cleanslateclub.me/2015/01/08/suit-of-armor/#commentsThu, 08 Jan 2015 22:34:09 +0000http://cleanslateclub.me/?p=15Continue reading Suit of Armor]]>For the second time this week, I was encouraged by someone to write again. So world … here I am! I never know if anyone is reading these posts, which is why I think I stopped writing. I thought maybe it wasn’t making a difference. If you’re reading this, a very special HELLO to you! And THANK YOU for reading! It really means a lot to me. Truly.

However, today during a coaching session, I learned that I’m writing here as much for myself as I am for anyone that may be reading this blog. Writing is a wonderful experience for me. I love doing it. I can express myself ten times better by writing than I can by speaking a word! So why don’t I write more often? Great question! And it has a simple answer. Fear.

Let’s Talk About Fear

Fear is a universal feeling that each of us has experienced from time to time. For me, it’s a daily thing. I’m not talking about fear for my life, adrenaline-pumping kind of fear. Just the kind that keeps me from forward motion and from moving toward my dreams. The fear that keeps me stuck. Let’s face it, FEAR is a four-letter word. A dreaded, in your face, four-letter word.

What’s with the Suit?

I titled this post Suit of Armor because I want to talk about my suit and how fear is keeping me locked up in such a suit. The Oxford English Dictionary defines a suit of armor as: The metal coverings formerly worn by soldiers or warriors to protect the body in battle. You can visualize such suits, right? They were worn by very gallant men galloping off into battles during Medieval times in my visualization.

However, my suit of armor looks much different. In fact, it’s not something I actually put on my body each day to protect myself. My suit of armor is part of my body, a part of me, in fact. My suit is my excess weight.

Let me tell you, it’s no easy task to admit this factoid out loud to the unknown world, in a blog post. It’s me revealing a part of myself to you. A very secret fact I have kept to myself until today when I blurted the words out during the coaching session. Yes, I know I’m fat/overweight/plump (insert your own adjective here, if you want). I’m very painstakingly aware of it. And guess what … in some way something I have added this protective suite to my body, on purpose, to protect me. Yes! Protect me!

You may be thinking, how in the world could fat protect you? That answer is easy. It protects me from people. From finding love in my life. From having my dream career. It protects me from me. Weird, huh? Yeah, maybe a bit weird, but it has worked for me for the past 10 years – the time period where I have put on the bulk of my armor.

The Suit Gets Heavy

You know what? A suit of armor does start to weigh on you after a while. You want to take it off and let your body breathe. You want to rest. That is what is happening for me. I want to take off this excess weight I have so carefully added to my body. I want to be among people. I want to find love in my life. I want to be free of the armor!

I imagine we all have our own suits of armor. For some it could be smoking or drinking, for others it could be something else. I know I’m not alone here, but it does feel that way sometimes. Almost all the time, in fact.

I’m working (once again) toward making some wonderful changes in my life and I’m looking forward to them. I hope this is the year I’m able to start shedding my suit of armor. How about you? Let’s do it! Let’s wipe the slate clean and get rid of these suits of armor once and for all! Until next time, let’s kick FEAR in the face!

Today begins a new year and for many of us, it is also symbolic of new beginnings. A chance to wipe the slate clean and begin anew. Some of us write down goals, wishes, and aspirations for the new year and others make mental notes or have fleeting thoughts about what they want to accomplish. That would be me.

I have lots of things in my mind that I want to achieve in the new year, but so far I haven’t written any of them down. One of my in-head goals is to be an avid blogger this year. Thus, here I am on January 1 starting a new blog. I have blogged before, but lost momentum because I got in my own way (more of that in future posts). I have been thinking about this for weeks … okay, months really … and have been agonizing over what to call this new blog and what it’s focus would be. As late as yesterday I was sitting at my computer trying out different blog names. Nothing seemed right. None of those fleeting ideas from yesterday were right.

As I lay in bed last night watching Anderson Cooper and Kathy Griffin host CNN’s coverage of New Year’s Eve in Times Square (and being annoyed that Kathy Griffin would never let Anderson Cooper complete a sentence…), I was shuffling blog titles through my head. Then a cartoon light bulb appeared over my head and there it was – the name I had been straining my brain about.

The Clean Slate Club

Now since I was drifting off to sleep at this point, my greatest challenge was to remember my awesome blog name when I awoke the next day. I repeated it mentally as I fell asleep and thank goodness, I remembered it this morning. I raced to my computer and typed in the words to find out if anyone else already had this blog title. I crossed my fingers as I hit the enter key on my keyboard and looked at the screen anxiously looking for the green check mark to appear telling me the blog name is mine. YES! There is was! My blog is born.

Now, if I haven’t lost you with all those details which you may have found quite boring, let’s talk about the Clean Slate Club (and by the way, thanks for reading!)

Everyone Deserves a Clean Slate

New Year or not, everyone deserves a clean slate when we mess up in our lives or don’t quite accomplish what we set out to do. Everyone. I’m talking about everyday Janes and Joes here. Not mass murderers. Just people getting up every day living their lives. We mess up. We disappoint. We fall down. And I’m just talking about the way we talk to and think about ourselves.

Every day is a clean slate, people. Yesterday is history. Last year is history! Today is a do-over. Make today better than yesterday. Write down a goal. Work towards it in some small way. Take small steps or take big steps — just move forward. I’ll be here to cheer you on with every step you take. Will you do the same for me?